Chapter 99 : The Forbidden Magical Weapon Rises To The Surface (part 1)
The scene changed again.
「UuuUuUuu… Hiks…! I lost to Hanna again…!」(Cecil)
Cecil rested her arms on the desk, buried her face on them and cried.
There was the sword I gave to Cecil placed beside her, so it was probably the memories of after I defeated her in cards collecting competition.
「You don’t have to be so depressed. Look, Hanna’s blunt weapon level has exceeded 100 million. She’s definitely stronger than you.」(Rozelia)
Just like at that time, Rozelia looked somewhat happy that Cecil lost to me.
I know why she looked happy. Cecil lost to me in front of her former master, Slad-san, and many other spectators, so it was only a matter of time until Bazel found out about that, and that’s what made Rozelia happy. She was hoping that Bazel would be disappointed in Cecil and abandon her eventually so that Rozelia could “rescue” her.
They are best friends in name only. Rozelia just wanted Cecil to devote her body and soul to her without letting anyone interfere.
「But if I admit that Hanna is stronger than me, then what we’ve done so far is…」(Cecil)
「Hm? Why are you so worried about that?」(Rozelia)
「When we were in Adventurer School, we had been trying to get untalented students kicked out of school, right? I thought it was for the sake of saving their lives because you told me they would die in vain if they became adventurers…」(Cecil)
「We did nothing wrong. Well, those people might resent us for that but we ended up saving their lives! Aren’t we awesome☆?」(Rozelia)
「But….. What if they also had hidden talents just like Hanna? What if they actually had the potential to become great adventurers and it was just a little late to bloom?」(Cecil)
Rozelia looked puzzled. It seemed like she never thought about that.
「Yada yada~ Cecil, you’re thinking too much☆ Such an irregularity most likely won’t happen. Hanna is special. Just because you lost to her, you don’t have to be so negative like this! Come on, be more positive~!」(Rozelia)
「But I might have crushed many people’s dreams… I…」(Cecil)
「ーBut this, but that! Enough with that!」(Rozelia)
「Ro… Roze…?」(Cecil)
Rozelia suddenly yelled with a harsh tone at Cecil who was being indecisive.
「If you think like that, then you have to beat Hanna.」(Rozelia)
「Eh…?」(Cecil)
「You said you might have crushed their dreams, then you have to take responsibility for that.」(Rozelia)
Uwahh… She was the one who made Cecil do that, and she wants to force all the responsibility on Cecil? This woman is the worst!
「Wh, What do you mean? How can I take responsibility?」(Cecil)
「Fufun~ You know that adventures’ goal is to defeat the Evil God and bring peace to this world, right? Then you just have to show that you have the strength to make that happen. You need to be stronger to make them think, “Cecil will surely defeat the Evil God” or “Cecil alone is enough to bring peace to this world”. Be strong enough to reassure them and carry on their dreams!」(Rozelia)
I’m sure Rozelia doesn’t care about defeating the Evil God or bringing peace to this world. She just wanted Cecil to build up confidence so that she could make her even more depressed later.
「…You’re right…. Roze, you’re right!」(Cecil)
However, of course Cecil didn’t realize that.
Cecil, who had been pursuing the strength to be recognized by her father, believed what Rozelia said was the best solution to redeem herself. She believed that as long as she became stronger, she would be able to solve everything.
Hahh… Now I understand why Cecil wants to defeat me so badly.
She must feel that my strength is denying her very existence.
It’s a real nuisance for me, but strangely, I can empathize with her.
Suddenly, my sight became white.
Is the scene going to change again?
The scenery has changed, but… it’s so dark here. I can barely see anything.
When I was wondering, I unconsciously stepped forward.
Wait… I can move…? So this place is…
I thought that I was still seeing Cecil’s memories, but it looks like I have returned to the real world.
I walked forward while reaching out, and then I touched a wall.
I knew it. This is the inside of the dome-shaped wall I created to defend myself from Aspis right after I looked into the sacred mirror.
I feel like I just came back from a long, long journey…
I wonder how long I have been unconscious…
Since Aspis hasn’t killed me, it must be only a few seconds, or… a few minutes?
Anyway, I should get out of here and fight her again.
「Blunt Weapon Skill :【Wall Destroyer】！」(Hanna)
The walls surrounding me crumbled as soon as I swung my sledgehammer.
This skill is convenient, isn’t it? It takes a long time for my enemies to break through the walls, but with this skill, I can destroy them in an instant.
I looked around but I couldn’t find Aspis, who was supposed to be fighting me, anywhere. I couldn’t find Cecil either.
Where did they go?
「Cecil and Aspis have already gone…」(Rozelia)
There was Rozelia, who was sitting on the floor, looking so depressed.
「I see… I thought she would kill me when I was unconscious.」(Hanna)
「Aha! It’s because I had been protecting you~☆ I said, “If you’re going to kill my beloved Hanna, you have to defeat me first!”」(Rozelia)
「Alright, alright. Enough with that and just tell me what exactly happened.」(Hanna)
I don’t think Aspis would give up just because I surrounded myself with walls.
After I asked Rozelia, she pouted and replied to me while playing with her hair.
「Puu puu. You’re no fun… That girl left with Cecil without even trying to break your walls. It looked like she lost interest and didn’t care about you anymore.」(Rozelia)
「What!? No way… We found out that this city was their hideout. It’s hard to believe that she left us without doing anything to us…」(Hanna)
Aspis and her friends are children who are labeled as Evil God believers and lost their home because of that.
They have been hiding in this city for a long time, and they did everything so as not to be found out by the people from the outside. They even pretended to be ghosts to chase away the outsiders.
Aspis did tell me not to tell anyone that they were hiding in this city, but… That’s it? Did she trust us?
Well, I’m not going to tell anyone about this because I was also a victim of prejudice just like them.
But… I feel like there’s something wrong going on here.